Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Zoroastrian Heritage and Healing

Restoration, Well-being and Wellness
Zoroastrian heritage contains a hidden treasure of the ancient science of healing, a treasure waiting to be discovered. It is a treasure that would have been lost entirely, save for the dedication and sacrifice of generations of Zoroastrians who preserved as best as they could, parts of a vast body of knowledge that had been accumulated over eons. While most of this treasure has been lost, clues have been left for us in our texts, rituals and traditions. These clues can help us reconstruct and revive a great part of a unique and very special approach to healing.

The spectrum of healing methods prescribed by Zoroastrianism form a holist and natural approach to healing. The methods include the spiritual efficacy and serenity of the manthra and accompanying meditation; the health and healing powers of the haoma plants; surgery; cleanliness and purity; the benefit of righteous, healthy, active living; the connection with nature in orchard-like gardens; the healing power of personal care; pilgrimage (to the Pirs in Yazd and Udvada in India); living in a fair and just society without fear. We have space here to discuss one method – the discipline of the healing plants of haoma (Middle and Modern Persian hom).

Five Healers
In Yasht 3.6 (also see Vendidad 7.44) five healers are mentioned: ‘One who heals with goodness and care (righteous and healthy living), one who heals with justice, one who heals with surgery, one who heals with plants, and one who heals with the manthra.’ The verse goes on to say that ‘The most efficacious is the one who heals with the manthra. The righteous who help rejuvenate the body are healers – they who provide restorative healing.’ In our discussion on healing we will include restoration, well-being and wellness.

The Healing Manthra
Specific manthra or verses of the Avesta are recited when Zoroastrians seek healing restoration, well-being and wellness. These include: Ashem Vohu, Yatha Ahu Variyo, Ahmai Raeshca, Gatha Ahunavaiti - Yasna 31.21, Airyaman Ishyo, Doa Tandorosti, and Hazangrem.

Healing the Body & Spirit
In Zoroastrianism, being has spiritual (the mainyu) and material / physical (the gaetha) aspects. Therefore, in order for wellness or healing to be complete and effective, both aspects need to be addressed. Further, since the spiritual existence infuses the physical, spiritual wellness or healing empowers the physical body to maintain or heal itself.

Restorative Healing - An Ancient Science
We read in scripture, that the science of restorative healing that is so central to Zoroastrianism, in fact preceded Zoroastrianism – making it a very ancient science. Yasna 9.4 states that Vivanghvant, father of Yima (King Jamshid) was the first person to prepare the plant-based health giving and healing haoma juice. The tradition was eventually passed down to Zarathushtra’s father (Y. 9.13). In between these two events, the Vendidad (20.2) credits Thrita (Also Thraetaona identified as legendary Pishdadian King Feridoon) as being the first holistic physician.

Ancient Surgery & Surgical Knives
For surgery, Thrita developed a surgical knife whose ‘top and bottom… be bound with gold’* or ‘of which the point and the base were set in gold.’** (Gold is a stainless metal better suited for surgery and sterilization than ancient iron or steel. We may surmise that gold being soft, the gold edge was set in a steel knife.)

[* Pahlavi Vendidad 20.3(12), Martin Haug translation in Essays on the Sacred Writings of the Parsees 1878, p. 392.
** James Darmesteter 1880. The Vendidad p. 220, note 6.]

Figure 1. Rudabeh gives birth to Rustam
by caesarean section through her side.
The man in the image is a mobed, a Zoroastrian priest,
physician and surgeon (cf. magus)
Caesarean Section
In the Shahnameh , Ferdowsi mentions a mobed, a Zoroastrian priest or magus (cf. magi, plural), using a knife of blue steel to deliver the legendary Rustam by caesarean section (figure 1 at right), and his mother Rudabeh being given a healing drink of milk and plants (cf. haoma below) with the dried residue placed on the stitched cut as a dressing. The verse from the Shahnameh reads:

Simorgh’s (the mythical giant bird) advice to Zal:
“Bring a blue-steel dagger and
Seek an accomplished surgeon.
Calm the lady first with wine to ease her pain and fear,
Then let the physician ply his craft
And take the lion from its lair
By piercing her waist while she is unconscious.
Then to stop the bleeding, stitch up the cut.
Put trouble, care, and fear aside, and
Rub with milk and musk a plant that I will show you
And dry them in the shade.
Dress and anoint Rudaba's wound and
Watch her come to life.”

While every one looked on amazedly
With wounded spirit and with bloodshot eyes.
Sindukht, the royal maid,
Wept tears of blood in torrents, asking:
“How can the infant come forth through the side?”
There came a mobed, one deft of hand,
Who made the moon-faced lady bemused with wine,
Then pierced her side while she was all unconscious,
And having turned the infant's head aright
Delivered her enormous babe uninjured.
None had seen a thing so strange.

A day and night the mother lay asleep,
Bemused, and unconscious.
The cut on her side had been sown up
And her anguish relieved by the dressing.

Healing Plants of Haoma/Hom
Further, during Thrita’s time many hundreds and thousands of healing plants – centred on the Gaokerena (white haoma plant in the Pahlavi Vendidad) – were identified and cures found for numerous ailments and diseases that caused untimely death (V. 20.4).

The few aliments that were treated with these healing plants and which can be identified are the general conditions of pain, fever, rot, and infection. The other information is lost to us.

Figure 2. Stalks of an ephedra plant
Haoma or hom has three meanings:

1. It is the name of the ephedra family of plants (see figure 2 and the explanation below).

2. It is also the name of the entire family of healing plants. The Greater Bundahishn (9.4) informs us that at the time of creation, many thousands of healing plants grew to counteract thousands of diseases. The family of healing plants is therefore vast (cf. Vendidad 20.4 above).

3. Its is the name given to the juice extracts of the healing plants. The defining feature of the haoma family of plants is not just their health and healing properties, but also their ability to yield a juice when pounded. The Lesser Bundahishn (24.18) states that, ‘haoma which is out-squeezed is the chief of medicinal plants.’ Implied is the ability of the haoma family of plants to work together with the central haoma plant, ephedra. The strained juice from the plants is then consumed in small quantities (12 to 15 drops) to promote health or healing.

For the sake of simplicity, we will use haoma when referring to the plant and hom when referring to the juice.

Synergy in Pairing Other Healing Plants with Ephedra
While ephedra is the pivotal plant used in preparing healing extracts, it is according to tradition not used alone but in conjunction with other healing plants.

Preparation of the Juice Extracts. The Yasna & Ab-Zohr Ceremonies
The ancient method of preparing the healing juice extracts called ab-zohr, meaning strength to water, is the central rite of the Yasna ceremony performed by priests in the inner sanctum of fire temples. During the rite, two extracts called parahom and hom are prepared (we will use the more modern Middle Persian name for the Avestan haoma for the juice extracts). The parahom extract is made by pounding of a mixture of three small twigs of ephedra, one pomegranate twig, pomegranate leaves and water. Cow's milk in Iran, or goat's milk in India, replaces some of the water in a hom preparation (cf. wound dressing and healing drink given to Rudabeh after birth of Rustam above).

That the Yasna ceremony is the highest of the inner circle ceremonies indicates the importance of restorative spiritual and physical healing in Zoroastrianism.

[The culmination of Jashan / Jashne ceremony of the outer circle, a ceremony performed outside the temple’s inner sanctum is the Doa Tandorosti, meaning blessings for well-being. As we see from the Yasna and Jashne ceremonies, a great deal of Zoroastrian practice preserved in ritual is devoted towards spiritual and physical well-being and healing.]

Invoking Spiritual Healing
The preparation of the hom extract affords natural cures while simultaneously invoking spiritual healing. The entire ritual seeks to remove imbalances and restore harmony between the physical and spiritual aspects of an individual’s being. The few drops of hom that are consumed during the Yasna ceremony act mainly as a health tonic. Together with the spiritual efficacy of the manthra and the meditation afforded by its recital, the entire process helps also to revitalize the body and spirit and improve body functions and circulation.

While there is ample testing of the extracts from the individual plants used in the Yasna’s ab-zohr rite, we know of no tests of the extracts prepared from the mixture of ephedra stalks, pomegranate twigs and leaves, and milk. We can expect the mixture to have a better healing and health properties than the individual components consumed separately, since otherwise the ancients wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to make a mixture.

Ephedra
Ephedra is said to be the world's oldest medicine and has reportedly been found buried in a 60,000 year old Middle Eastern Neolithic grave. It functions as an anti-viral (particularly against influenza), a diaphoretic, a blood purifier, a diuretic, a tonic and a stimulant. It helps to body burn fat. It has been used to treat colds, flu, coughing, wheezing, nasal congestion, fever, hay fever, chills, headaches, edema, hyperhydrosis, and bone pains. It also works as an antispasmodic and as a treatment for asthma. Ephedra reportedly acts as a sexual stimulant - especially for women. In larger quantities, ephedra’s constricts the blood vessels and speeds up the heart and nervous system, a property that enhances performance by athletes and warriors also helping them to stay alert and aggressive over longer periods than normal. It has been applied externally to treat allergic skin irritations, cuts, insect bites and stings as it was after Rudabeh’s caesarean delivery.

Unlike using isolated or synthetic ephedrine, using the ephedra plant, with its many constituents, judiciously and with care, is far more effective and rarely gives rise to serious side-effects. This is true of most plant medicine and especially true of ephedra where other plant constituents help buffer or improve the actions of the main or active ingredient. Nevertheless, ephedra / ephedrine can be fatal or cause hyper-stimulation if taken in excess or incorrectly. (Warnings: See: Care Group & Amazing Nature).

Pomegranate
Pomegranate has been used to treat ailments from dysentery to diseases of the mouth and gums. The seeds and peel of the fruit are rich in antioxidant tannins and flavonoids. The dried seeds produce unique oil, about 80% of which is a very rare 18-carbon fatty acid, punicic acid. Also present in the oil is the isoflavone genistein, the phytoestrogen coumestrol, and the sex steroid estrone.

Magi & the Baresman Bundle
Figure 3. Rock carving at Museum
for Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara.
Possibly a magus carrying a baresman
bundle and haoma mortar/cup.
Strabo (15.3.14) describes the magi
of Anatolia as "holding in their
hands a bundle of slender myrtle wands."
The Vendidad (3.1) adds also holding
the havana or mortar.
Zoroastrian priests of old (as the magi) had a reputation of being accomplished physicians throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. They were known for their wisdom, healing knowledge and ability, caring, selfless devotion, and spiritual healing powers. They carried with them the baresman bundle as well as the haoma mortar (see figure 3 to the right). The baresman bundle consisted on twigs and it is this author's contention that the twigs were from those plants from  which came the healing hom extracts.

In the discourses called the Rivayats , the baresman bundle included twigs from the pomegranate (Av. hadhanaepata Yasna 25.2). In this writer’s research, he has identified myrtle, laurel, jujube, tamarisk, mulberry, willow and juniper twigs in addition to ephedra and pomegranate twigs. The wide range of ailments relieved by the extracts from these few plants’ extracts is amazing (see individual plant properties here). As a single example, willow, known for treating headache and fever, is a source of salicin whose modern isolation led to the synthesis of acetyl salicylic acid (ASA), the main component of aspirin. The added advantage of plant cures is that their active chemicals come surrounded by a multitude of surrounding and supportive chemicals, a feature that is impossible to replicate with modern medicine.

We need to keep in mind that Zoroastrian texts say that there were (and hopefully, are) thousands of healing plants to treat thousands of aliments. Here we mention but a handful. We can only conclude that the knowledge of the vast number of healing plants as well as their wellness and healing properties, was destroyed with the destruction of Zoroastrian texts along with the murderous persecution of Zoroastrian priests.

Today, if we wish to preserve and revive the ancient art of haoma healing, we need to ensure that the Yasna ceremony continues to be practiced in the original manner. Zoroastrians through the ages gave their lives and suffered great humiliation and degradation in order to preserve these rites and traditions. If, because of neglect or misinformation, the Yasna ceremony and its ab-zohr rite stop being practiced today, Zoroastrians will be doing to themselves what generations of oppressors failed to do.

There is much wisdom and beauty in our heritage and much from which we can all benefit. Our heritage holds treasures waiting to be discovered.

We have been very brief here. For further details please see the Zoroastrian Heritage page on Haoma.

_____________________________________________

Glossary
Glossary of Avestan words associated with restoration, well-being, wellness and healing:
  • baêshaza / baeshaza, baêshazanãm / baeshazanam, baêshazem / baeshazem, baêshazemca / baeshazem-cha - a remedy, a restorative, medicine, physician, healer, health, art of healing, medicine, physician
  • baêshazya / baeshazya, baêshazyãm / baeshazyam, baêshazyô / baeshazyo - healing, curative, generative, restorative, health-giving, healthy (cf. Sanskrit bhishaj and bheshaja)
  • bish - twice, double, remedy
  • bishazyât / (bishaz) bishazyat - to heal someone (cf. Sanskrit bhishaj and bheshaja)
  • drvatâtem (drvatât) / drvatatem (drvatat), drvatãm (drvañt) / drvatam (drvant), drvatô / drvato - soundness, health
  • haurvata (haurvatât / haurvatat, haurvat, khordad), haurvatâtem/ haurvatate, haurvatâtô / haurvatato, haurvâtâ/ haurvata, haurvãm/ haurvam - wholeness, fullness, completeness, excellence, abundance, health, comfort, ease; 5th Amesha Spenta
  • pouru-baêshaza / pouru-baeshaza - full of healing
  • thamanaghvat - physician
  • ushta - peace; health; happiness; prosperity, good fortune
  • vimadhagh - curing (Vd. 7.38)
References
Hormazd Yasht
(Names / attributes of God)
1.8 ashtadasa baêshazya - Eighteenth, the Healing One

Vendidad
7.36-40 competence of a surgeon

7.38 vimadhagh - curing

7.44 Three kinds of healing: surgery with the cutting instrument, healing with plants, and healing with manthras / prayers.

10.5, 10.9, 10.13 prayers for healing and cleansing listed in the

20 Thrita and the origins of medicine

22 Countering disease with the manthra and airyaman

Yasht
3.6 (also see Vendidad 7:44: The five healers and methods:  ashô-baêshazô dâtô-baêshazô karetô-baêshazô urvarô-baêshazô mãthrô-baêshazô.

Yasht 3.6 One who heals with goodness and care, one who heals with justice, one who heals with surgery, one who heals with herbs, one who heals with the manthra.

In Persian, the corresponding disciplines: Ashoo Pezeshk, Daad Pezeshk, Kard Pezeshk, Gyaah Pezeshk, Mantreh Pezeshk.

Yasna (Hom Yasht)
9.16 Thereupon spake Zarathushtra: Praise to Haoma. Good is Haoma, and the well-endowed, exact and righteous in its nature, and good inherently, and healing, beautiful of form, and good in deed, and most successful in its working, golden-hued, with bending sprouts. As it is the best for drinking, so (through its sacred stimulus) is it the most nutritious for the soul.

9.17 I make my claim on thee, O yellow one! for inspiration. I make my claim on thee for strength; I make my claim on thee for victory; I make my claim on thee for health and healing

9.19 This second blessing I beseech of thee, O Haoma, thou that drivest death afar! this body's health (before that blest life is attained).
This third blessing I beseech of thee, O Haoma, thou that drivest death afar! the long vitality of life.

10.7 Wasting doth vanish from that house, and-with it foulness, whither in verity they bear thee, and where thy praise in truth is sung, the drink of Haoma, famed, health-bringing (as thou art)

10.8 Who as a tender son caresses Haoma, forth to the bodies of such persons Haoma comes to heal.
10.9 Of all the healing virtues, Haoma, whereby thou art a healer, grant me some.

10.12 There, Haoma, on the ranges dost thou grow of many kinds. Now thou growest of milky whiteness, and now thou growest golden; and forth thine healing liquors flow for the inspiring of the pious

10.18 imåse-tê haoma gâthå imå heñti staomâyô imå heñti cîcashânå ime heñti arshuxdha vâcô dâsmainish vârethrakhnish paiti-bishish baêshazya.
These are thy Gathas, holy Haoma, these thy songs, and these thy teachings, and these thy truthful ritual words, health-imparting, victory-giving, from harmful hatred healing giving.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Great Ocean Vourukasha / Frakhvkard / Varkash

[Avestan: Vouru-kasha. Middle Persian Pahlavi: Frakhvkart. Classical Persian: Varkash. Avestan: Vouru means wide.]

When the Aryan Zoroastrians migrated west into the Iranian plateau, Alburz eventually came to be the name of the northern mountains of Iran and Varkash came to mean the Caspian Sea. However, in ancient Zoroastrian history written while the Aryans resided in Central Asia, Alburz was the Himalayas and Vourukasha / Frakhvkard / Varkash was the ocean that circumnavigated the south and south-east of the Asian continent.

While the Bundahishn was a Middle Persian Pahlavi text, it nevertheless still preserved the older geography recorded in the Avesta. Chapter 10 of the Greater Bundahishn is devoted to a description of the oceans and seas of the known world. It starts Chapter 10 with the words, "One says in the Scripture" referring to the Zoroastrian scriptures, the Avesta. The first ocean mentioned is the Frakhvkart.

The beginning text of the Greater Bundahishn's Chapter 10, reads:
1. One says in the Scripture, 'The Frakhvkart Ocean occupies one third of this earth, in the direction of the south, on the border of Alburz (Himalayas).'

2. It is so wide formed that a thousand seas are located in it. Some call them (the seas) the springs of Aredvisur (Ardvisura - see post), and there are some one who call them the springs of the seas.

3. Every sea has (is fed by) springs of water whose water [comes out and pours into the sea. 4. Some seas have so much width and length that] a man on a galloping horse can circumvent it in forty days [and nights], that is, (covering) a distance one thousand eight hundred large frasangs (a farsang / frasang is nearly 1 league, 3.5 miles or 5.6 km. 1,800 farsangs = 6,300 miles or 10,080 km.

8. Of all three (seas) the Putik (Persian Gulf) is the largest, owing to which the tide and the ebb take place, and being in the same direction as the ocean Frakhvkart, it is attached to the Frakhvkart.

9. Between this ocean Frakhvkart and a side of the Putik, there is a sea which they call the Lake Sataves (Arabian Sea?). [All] hardness, brackishness, and impurity, that are inclined to go from the Sea Putik to the Ocean Frakhvkart, are repelled by a mighty high wind blowing from that Lake Sataves, and whatever is pure and clean goes into the Frakhvkart and the spring of Aredvisur, and the rest pours back into the Putik.

The Lesser Bundahishn states:
1. On the nature of seas it says in revelation that the wide-formed ocean keeps one-third of this earth on the south side of the border of Alburz (Himalayas), and so wide-formed is the ocean that the water of a thousand seas is held by it, such as the source Aredvivsur (Ardvisura - see post), which some say is the fountain (source spring) lake. 2. Every particular sea is of a particular kind. Some are great and others are small. Some are so large that a man with a horse might encompass them riding for forty days, which is 1,700 parasangs in extent.

In another Middle Persian, Pahlavi text, the Menog-e Khrad (Spirit of Wisdom) [SBE 24 Pahlavi Texts, Part III, translator: E.W. West, [1885]] we find the following reference at 44.14-15:
14. ...the surging on of the water is into the sea Putik, 15. and from the sea Putik it goes back to the sea Varkash.

At 62.28-30 we have: ...the sea Varkash ...the Kar fish too ever circle around it (the Hom tree).

In the Rivayats at 93 we have Shapur Bharuchi: The Creator Ohrmazd has created the Hom tree in the midst of the ocean Zareh Varkash and created the Khar fish for protecting that tree.

The various references above demonstrate that the names Frakhvkart and Varkash apply to the same ocean.

The Bundahishn refers to the Avesta i.e. "One says in the Scripture" in making its statements about the oceans. The Avesta's Aban Yasht (Yasht 5) reads:
3.
about the masitam durat frasrutam (The great far famed)
ya asti avavaiti maso (that is as great)
yatha vispa ima apo (as all those waters)
ya zema paiti fratachaiti (that on earth flow forward)
ya amavaiti fratachaiti (that powerfully flow)
hukairyat hacha barezanghat (from Hukairya exalted)
aoi zrayo vouru-kashem. (to the sea Vouru-Kasha - i.e. wide formed/shores)
4.
yaozenti vispe karano (pure on all sides i.e. shores of)
zrayai vouru-kashaya (the sea Vouru-Kasha)
a-vispo maidhyo yaozaiti (pure in the centres)
yat hish aoi fratachaiti (as they flows onwards)
yat hish aoi frazhgaraiti (as they flows towards)
aredvi sura anahita (Aredvi Sura Anahita i.e. the Aredvi-source powerful and pure)
yenghe hazangrem vairyanam (those thousands of rivers)
hazangrem apakhzharanam (those thousands of water-channels)
kaschit-cha aesham vairyanam (and some of these rivers)
kaschit-cha aesham apakhzharanam (and some of these water-channels)
cathware-satem ayare-baranam (a forty-day horse-ride)
hvaspai naire baremnai. (by a person riding a good horse.)

Iranian Mythology
by Albert J. Carnoy (Extracts)
These converge into the sea Vourukasha ("Wide-Gulfed"), which occupies one third of this earth in the direction of the southern limit of Mount Alburz and is so wide that it contains the water of a thousand lakes. Every lake is of a particular kind; some are great, and some are small, while others are so vast that a man with a horse could not compass them around in less than forty days.

All waters continually flow from the source Ardvi Sura Anahita ("the Wet, Strong, and Spotless One"). There are a hundred thousand golden channels, and the water, warm and clear, goes through them toward Mount Hugar, the lofty. On the summit of that mountain is Lake Urvis, into which the water flows, and becoming quite purified, returns through a different golden channel. At the height of a thousand men an open golden branch from that affluent is connected with Mount Ausindom and the sea Vourukasha, whence one part flows forth to the ocean for the purification of the sea, while another portion drizzles in moisture upon the whole of this earth. All the creatures of Mazda acquire health from it, and it dispels the dryness of the atmosphere.

There are, moreover, three large salt seas and twenty-three small. Of the three, the Puitika (Persian Gulf) is the greatest, and the control of it is connected with moon and wind; it comes and goes in increase and decrease because of her revolving. From the presence of the moon two winds continually blow; one is called the down-draught, and one the up-draught, and they produce flow and ebb.

The spring Ardvi Sura Anahita, which we have just mentioned, and from which all rivers flow down to the earth, is celebrated in the fifth Yasht of the Avesta as the life-increasing, the herd-increasing, the fold-increasing, who makes prosperity for all countries. She runs powerfully down to the sea Vourukasha, and all its shores are boiling over when she plunges foaming down; she, Ardvi Sura, who has a thousand gulfs and a thousand outlets.

Aredvi Sura Anahita & Aban

Ardvisura is short for Aredvi Sura Anahita, a compound name that came to be applied to the spiritual guardian of the waters, i.e. the natural bodies of water (as different from the primordial element water) is mentioned in Aban Yasht 5 (also Yasna 65), a hymn to the waters. As with haoma, Aredvi Sura Anahita is associated with fertility, healing and wisdom.

The Avestan word Aredvi appears to be the name of a famed river in ancient Zoroastrian Aryan history. Sura means powerful, mighty, and strong. Anahita meaning pure (without impurity), immaculate, and undefiled, is used as an epithet of Aredvi-Sura.

The spring Ardvi Sura Anahita from which all rivers flow down to the earth, is celebrated in the fifth Yasht of the Avesta as life-increasing, herd-increasing, fold-increasing - who makes prosperity for all countries. Anahita runs powerfully down to the sea Vourukasha, and all its shores are boiling over when she plunges foaming down; she, Ardvi Sura, who has a thousand gulfs and a thousand outlets.

Aban / Avan is the modern derivative of the Avestan apas (cf. Vedic Sanskrit apas) or apam which in turn stem from ape (cf. ab in modern Persian), meaning water.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Zoroastrianism on Attaining the Age of Responsibility & Initiation. Kusti. References

On Wearing the Kusti (Sacred Cord) and the Age of Investiture
These are supporting notes for our page on the Navjote / Sudreh-Pooshi (initiation / coming-of-age ceremony) ceremony.] During the ceremony, the initiate is invested with a vest, the sudreh, and a kusti, a cord tied around the waist three times. Below, we cite extracts from old Zoroastrian texts, the Sad-dar, the Vendidad and the Rivayets.

Sad-Dar
Sad-Dar is a sixteenth century BCE Persian text, Sad-Dar meaning 'Hundred Doors'. Together with the seventeenth century Rivayats which frequently quote the Sad-Dar, it is one of the most modern post Middle Persian Pahlavi religious texts to come out of Iran. The Sad-Dar and Riviyets are not scripture. A number of Arabic words (4%) have made an incursion into the Persian language used by the author. The style is also prescriptive and the tone harsh. However, we are interested in Sad-Dar as a record of Zoroastrian practice - specifically, in this case, on the age when it became 'incumbent' on a Zoroastrian to wear a kusti (the cord worn around the waist of Zoroastrians who have been initiated into the faith), that is, the age of investiture with the kusti. We notice that in the reference below there is no mention of the sudreh, a vest and other article of investiture during the initiation ceremony.

Sad-dar Chapter 10:
1. The tenth subject is this, that it is incumbent on all those of the good religion, women and men who attain the age of fifteen years, to wear the sacred cord (kusti).

3. The first person who set the wearing of the kusti, the sacred cord, in view of all was (King) Jamshed.

7. It (the benefit of wearing the kusti) is like that which occurs when the (faithful) are performing (see hamazor) and hama-asho and have put on the kusti for that reason,...

...or when as when someone in Kashmir, or Eranvej, or Kangdez (see Kangdez below), or the enclosure formed by Jam (King Jamshed) performs a good deed,...
[Meaning from the four corners of the world where Zoroastrian spread far and wide perform good deeds...]

...and when a person is not able to perform it (the kusti rite) with hamazor, then those (that do perform the rite) and those who wear the kusti around the waist (and cannot perform the hamazor), are mutually connected, one with the other, and are equally meritorious.

9. And the four knots (when tying the kusti around the waist) give four attestations:

10. The first knot is that which preserves loyalty and steadfastness (qarar), and gives attestation as to the existence, unity, purity, and matchlessness of the sacred being, the good and propitious (favourable).

11. The second knot is that which gives attestation that is the good religion of the Mazda-worshippers which is the word of the sacred being.

12. The third knot is that which gives attestation as to the apostleship and mission (rasuli) of the just ('haqq) Zartosht Spitaman.

13. The fourth knot is that which attests, gives assurance (iqrar) and openly accepts that one should think good, speak good, and do good.

14. And from the whole a person becomes established; and the pure, good religion is this, that a person persist in these views.

16. It is incumbent (to wear the kusti) both on woman and on man.

Sad-dar Chapter 46:
1. The forty-sixth subject is this, that, when people become fourteen years of age, it is necessary to tie on the sacred cord (kusti), because the high-priests have said that it is necessary to take into account those nine months that they have been in the womb of the mother.

[Note: Presumably, this attempts to reconcile the age of fourteen mentioned here with the age of fifteen mentioned elsewhere in this and other texts. In other words, fourteen  plus nine months in the womb effectively brings a person into her or his fifteenth year.]

2. For in our religion there is no duty better than wearing the kusti, and it is incumbent on man and woman.

3. And, in former days, if any one became completely fifteen years of age, and did not wear the kusti (i.e. had not started wearing the kusti, i.e. had not been initiated or having been initiated, stopped wearing the kusti), then that person was ostracized.

The Orthodox Age of Initiation
From the above we gather that the age for initiation is on attaining the age of fourteen and before the fifteenth birthday.

Vendidad
The Vendidad is one of the books of the Avesta, the Zoroastrian scriptures. It is also the latest of the surviving scriptures though parts of it are very old (or based on old texts) and some parts might even have pre-Zoroastrian origins.

Vendidad Fargard (Chapter) 18:
18.9 [The one who causes great harm is the person who] continues for three springs (years) without wearing the kusti, the sacred cord.
[Note: This line seems to make a three year allowance for inidivuals who cannot wear the kusti continuously.]

18.54, 58 [The one who is susceptible to fall on evil ways is] either that man or woman, who being more than fifteen years of age, walks without wearing the kusti, the sacred cord) and the sudre, the sacred vest or shirt.
[Note: We notice here mention of both the kusti and sudre.]

Rivayats
The Rivayats are seventeenth century epistles from the Yazd Zoroastrians to the Parsi Zoroastrians of India. They were written in the form of answers to the questions of the Parsees.

In one of these Rivayats, that of Kaus Kamdin (p. 29-30 of manuscript MU 1), it is mentioned that "Kodac haft shala va sahe mah va ya zayadah az aan ama kam nshyid." This translates roughly as 'A child of seven years and six months and higher, but not less.' We do not have the question or the entire answer and are given to understand that the statement is in response to a question regarding at what age a child can be invested with the sudre and kusti.

We also understand that the answer states that during the investiture, the child should face the direction of the sun, and that after the investiture, the child should observe the hamazor (presumably the handshake and not the prayer) with the entire congregation.

We note on our page on the navjote or initiation ceremony, "Nowadays, for children born to Zoroastrian parents, the navjote ceremony takes place between the ages of seven and twelve. Perhaps initiation at a young age is for reasons of modesty since the sudrah is worn over a bear chest during Navjote ceremonies in India (however, the sudrah can be placed over, say, a blouse). However, one wonders whether a child of seven can understand the significance of a covenant made during the Navjote ceremony, and whether a person and her or his soul can be considered responsible for decisions made at the age of seven. It would be interesting to know how Zarathushtra initiated the "first hearers and teachers" of the faith listed in the Farvardin Yasht, a chapter within the Zoroastrian scriptures that memorializes Zoroastrians of old."

Kangdez - Far Away Land Beyond the Seas

Kangdez means "Fortress of Kang" and refers to a mythical, paradise-like fortress in Iranian folklore. In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Kangdez becomes Gangdez.

The name appears related to Kangha mentioned in the Avesta's Yasht 5.54, the Aban (Ardvisur) Yasht. Antar Kanga is part of a list of mountains in Yasht 19.4.

The Middle Persian Pahlavi texts (Dinkard 7.38; Bundahishn 32.5; Dadestan i Menog i Khrad 27.57; Zand i Wahman Yasn 7.19-20) mention Kangdiz as being founded by Siyavakhsh (Siavosh in the Shahnameh). In the Bundahishn (33) and Dadestan i Denig (90.4) Kangdiz was conquered by Kay Khosrow. In Pahlavi Zoroastrian eschatological works, Kangdiz is the abode of Peshotan (Chitro-maino), son of King Vishtasp, and Khwarsheed-chihr (Khursheed-chehr), son of Zarathushtra, who will gather their righteous army there before the final battle against Ahriman and his creatures (Bundahishn 29.6, 33.28; Dinkard 7.5, 12; Zand i Wahman Yasn 7.19-20). In Dinkard 9.15 the previous information is ascribed to the lost Sudgar Nask of the Sassanid Avesta.

In the Dadestan i Menog i Khrad 62.1, the location of Kangdez is described as "Kangdez is entrusted with the eastern quarter, near to Satavayes on the frontier of Airan-vego."

[Note: Satavayes / Satevis / Satevish / Sataves: Av. Satavaesa, a star or constellation. There is considerable contradiction in the Greater and Lesser Bundahishns about the quarter in which it is the chief star. In some instances it is in the western quarter (L. Bund. 2.7 and 5.1). In others it is the chief star of the southern quarter (L. Bund. 13.1).]

In the Shahnameh, Siavosh, having fled from Kay Kavus to Turan, is granted by Turan's King Afrasiab a pleasant piece of land, where Siavosh erects the castle Kangdez. In other Persian texts, the construction of Kangdez is attributed to Kay Kavus, Kay Khosrow and even Legendary King Jamshid. The region around the castle Kangdez is described (in a manner similar to that of the Aryan homeland, Airyana Vaeja, in the Avesta) as being rich in water and game, and knowing neither the frost of winter nor the heat of summer. It is thirty 30 farsakh square in size. The walled city of Kangdez is also called Kang-e Siavosh, Kang-e Siyawakhsh, Siavoshgerd, and Siyawakhshgerd, in different texts. Descriptions of the city include it having handsome buildings with seven walls built with marble, stone, cement and other materials. There are beautiful meadows with flowers within the city walls. Siavosh lived in Kangdez until he was cunningly killed by Afrasiab. When he learnt of his father's murder, Siavosh's son, Kay Khosrow, pledged vengance. When Kay Khosrow ascended the throne of Iranshahr, he launched a series of expeditions against Turan and Afrasiab, who he eventually defeated. Afrasiab fled to Chin (China) and from there sails to Kangdez. Here we learn that Kangdez is a far away land across the seas. Kay Khosrow pursues Afrasiab, puts together a naval force, and sets sail for Kangdez which he reaches after a six-month-long voyage. But the wiley Afrasiab has already fled Kangdez. After staying in Kangdez for a year, Kay Khosrow sails back to Iran through Turan.

According to Arab geographer, al-Biruni, identifies Kangdez with another legendary land Yamakoti in the following statement. "Yamakoti is, according to Yakub and al-Fazari, the country where is the city Tara within the sea. I have not found the slightest trace of this name in Indian literature. As koti means castle and Yama is the angel of death, the word reminds me of Kangdez, which according to the Persians had been built by Kai Kaus or Jam in the most remote East, behind the sea... .Abu Mashar al-Balkhi based his geographical canon on Kangdez as 0 degrees longitude."

The reference to 0 longitude alludes to the concept that Kangdez is considered the centre of the earth.

The geographers who used Kangdez as the prime meridian belonged to what is known as the al-Balkhi school, after Abu Mashar al-Balkhi, known in the West as Albumasar. During the Middle Ages, Albumasar was the most renowned of Muslim astronomer/astrologers in Europe. His theories of historical cycles linked with the planets influenced many European astrologers including Nostradamus whose key work Revolutions was based on such concepts.

The al-Balkhi school placed the meridian in the far East. His followers saw Kangdez as  the same as the Indian Yamakoti. In addition to Kangdez, the city Tara / Nara was placed in Yamakoti at the equator.

In al-Qanun al-Masudi, al-Biruni writes that Tara was 90 degrees east of Lanka / Ujjain basically agreeing with the Indian texts about the position of Yamakoti. Again Yamakoti was the same distance from Lanka / Ujjain as the latter was from Romaka (Eastern Roman empire or Constantinople).

Al-Biruni did not accept the equation of Lanka's longitude with that of Ujjain. He thought instead that it referred to the isle of Langabalus, the island of cloves (lavang), which may refer to the Nicobar-Andaman chain. Even though the Indians used Lanka as their own meridian, they usually named Yamakoti first when listing the four quadrants of the globe.

If we accept the Ujjain meridian, the longitude for Yamakoti would be at around 120-122 degrees East longitude which passes through the Indonesia of today.